To escape government surveillanceĬertain countries conduct mass surveillance of Internet traffic, sucking up every bit of information they can about the Internet activity of everyone they can, without regard to guilt, probable cause, or international law.
In fact, we have an entire guide to show you how to safely and securely unblock websites. Hiding your IP address (more specifically, temporarily using an IP address that isn’t geo-blocked) can get you access to that content or site without having to physically travel to the blocked region. As countries and websites continue to restrict access to content, more people are looking for the right tools to unblock websites. Geo-blocking systems use your IP address to determine whether or not you can see the blocked content or visit the blocked sites. Hiding your IP address when connected to these hotspots (particularly if done using a VPN) offers some protection against your data being stolen in a manner that can be traced back to you. These have a reputation as haunts for online creeps of all sorts looking to steal personal data. Imagine your insurance company finding out you are visiting cancer treatment websites, or your spouse discovering that you were one of the users of the Ashley Madison website that got hacked a few years ago?Īnother high-risk area for your sensitive private information is public Wi-Fi hotspots. In situations like this, hiding your IP address can protect your right to access such information privately. You may need internet access to reach sensitive medical or personal information. To keep your sensitive information private To protect yourself, it only makes sense to hide your IP address, as we explain in our guide on using VPNs for torrenting. Torrenting isn’t illegal, but using it to share the wrong kinds of online content can be.
Millions of people worldwide use torrenting software to share files every day. One area where hiding your IP address is vital is torrenting and P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing. Hiding your IP address and encrypting your traffic with a good VPN solves these problems. In the United States, your ISP can sell your browsing history to advertisers and other private parties, and this has been legal since 2017. In most cases, these records are stored for long periods of time and accessible by government agencies and other third parties. In the UK, Australia, and many other countries around the world, ISPs must record your online activities.
The assignment of IP addresses is recorded. Your ISP can also see everything you do online – unless you are encrypting and anonymizing your online activity (explained below).Īdditionally, your ISP assigns each device that connects to the internet under your account an IP address. Your internet service provider (ISP) knows everything about you: name, address, phone number, payment details, and perhaps family members and more. To hide your online activities from your ISP In case any of these reasons aren’t obvious to you, here’s a little background on each: 1.